NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hundreds of senior LGBT and Ally business leaders from around the world will convene on Tuesday, April 21, for the fifth annual Out on the Street: U.S. LGBT Leadership Summit hosted by Morgan Stanley, at the New-York Historical Society. An initiative of the global LGBT business advisory firm Out Leadership, Out on the Street brings together executives from leading financial institutions to share strategy around issues vital to LGBT equality and critical to creating marketplace opportunity.

“Never before have the efforts of Out Leadership and its global community of professionals been more important”

“Morgan Stanley is honored to host the 2015 Out on the Street Summit and bring together a diverse cross-section of senior leaders for important discussions of how businesses can continue to drive LGBT equality,”said James P. Gorman, Chairman and CEO, Morgan Stanley. “At our Firm, we know that our employees are our strongest asset, and diverse talent and points of view are core to our success. We expect this forum to further the work across the financial services industry in the continued effort to support equality for all.”

Todd Sears, Founder and Principal, Out Leadership, will introduce new data drawn from proprietary Out Leadership research demonstrating the size and scope of the Ally Marketplace™ in the United States.

“45 percent of Americans aged 18-65 identify themselves as Allies,” said Sears. “And 73 percent of self-identified Allies say they’d consider spending more with a company that supports LGBT civil rights, if they knew that doing so would make that company more strongly committed to its support. Furthermore, our research demonstrates that 71 percent of Americans oppose the idea that businesses should have the right to refuse products or services to particular customers on the basis of their values or beliefs. We continue to see a Return on Equality™ across industries, and for the world’s most forward-thinking companies.”

Kathleen Sebelius, former Secretary of Health & Human Services and former Governor of Kansas, will participate in a fireside chat with Thomas R. Nides, Managing Director and Vice Chairman, Morgan Stanley, and former Deputy Secretary of State, discussingher experiences in federal and state government. Their conversation will engage Sebelius’ commitment to LGBT equality throughout her government service, and the importance of Allyship at the highest levels of business and government.

“Throughout my career in government service, I have worked to stand as a constant Ally to the LGBT community,” said Sebelius. “While it appears that marriage equality is within striking distance for all Americans, recent disappointing backward steps, including Governor Brownback's rollback of anti-discrimination policy in Kansas and the passage of baldly pro-discrimination laws in several states, make it clear that the project to establish equality for LGBT people under the law is still very much a work in progress. So I'm glad to support the important work to further LGBT equality that Out Leadership does in partnership with the global business community.”

Edward (“Ted”) Jacobs, BakerHostetler Partner and Out in Law Board Member, will introduce a fireside chat between Kenji Yoshino, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law, and the Honorable Vaughn R Walker, Former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, on the history of California’s Proposition 8.

“Never before have the efforts of Out Leadership and its global community of professionals been more important,” said Jacobs. “Successful business leaders, like Morgan Stanley and other Out on the Street member organizations, champion the current civil rights environment in the United States knowing how it can affect not only our communities, but ultimately, the bottom line. Together, we are writing the modern playbook for forward-thinking companies to advocate for equality and inclusion.”

Peter Grauer, Chairman of Bloomberg LP, who will participate in the CEO panel, said, “At Bloomberg, we believe good corporate citizenship means more than opposing discrimination; it also means celebrating the diversity that makes us who we are. We want everyone on our team to be their authentic selves at work, and joining Out on the Street is one important way we show our pride and support for the LGBT community.”

In addition to the speakers specified above, contributors will include:

Out on the Street is the first global LGBT organization convening senior leaders from all major financial services firms across three continents to collectively set a forward-looking agenda for the industry and the LGBT community.

Out on the Street is an initiative of Out Leadership, a recognized global strategic advising firm that connects leaders across the world’s most influential industries to create business opportunities, cultivate talent and drive LGBT equality forward. Comprised of 58 member firms, Out Leadership operates an additional industry-specific business initiative, Out in Law, and two cross-industry talent initiatives for LGBT leaders: OutNEXT, the first global leadership development program for the next generation of LGBT talent, and Quorum, which seeks to increase LGBT representation on corporate boards.